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Winter Squash Molasses Muffins

makes 12 muffins; Adapted from Martha Rose Shulman’s “Winter Squash, Five Ways,” in The New York Times, October 2012

Ingredients
  • 2 eggs large
  • ⅓ cup blackstrap molasses
  • ⅓ cup dark brown sugar (India Tree dark muscovado) or Sucanat
  • 1 cup roasted, puréed winter squash (Butternut or Kabocha, see recipe)
  • ½ cup butter milk (or whole milk + 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar)
  • ¼ cup high-oleic safflower oil or other light cooking oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
  • ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
  • ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a muffin pan with paper liners.

    Stir together eggs, sugar, and molasses then mix in the squash purée, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda, spices, and salt then stir into the wet ingredients. Portion batter into lined muffin cups and bake 18–20 minutes, until muffins have risen and stabilized in the center. Let cool 15 minutes in the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe Notes / Tips
  • How to roast squash: Cut in half, scrape out the seeds, place cut side down in a glass baking dish or sheet pan, and roast at 400°F for 45 minutes or until you can pierce the squash easily with a fork. Let cool and scrape it from the skin and store refrigerated for later use.
  • When you have the oven going for dinner, put in a squash to roast so you have it for another meal or baking. After roasting, scrape it from the skin, purée, and store it in the refrigerator so that it's easy to use (for muffins, soup, risotto, etc.)